U.N.'s Zeid slams big powers' 'empty words' on Syria chemical attack

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights chief lambasted the U.N. Security Council members on Monday for offering only “feeble condemnations” of a chemical attack in Syria, saying the failure to react more strongly could have dire consequences for decades.

“A number of very powerful states are directly involved in the conflict in Syria, and yet they have completely failed to halt this ominous regression towards a chemical weapons free-for-all,” Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a statement.

“This collective shrug to yet another possible use of one of the most ghastly weapons ever devised by man is incredibly dangerous.”